Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA) melanoma: Evaluation of the characteristics, treatment strategies, prognostic factors in a monocentric retrospective study

Melanoma is rare in children, it has greater incidence in adolescents and young adults (AYA). Few studies have specifically addressed the topic of AYA melanoma.  The aim of this study is to describe characteristics, treatment, and prognosis of a series of cases of melanoma in adolescents and young adults in order to contribute to the investigation of this malignancy and provide better patient care. This is a retrospective cohort-based study including patients over 15 years of age at diagnosis from Veneto Region, who received diagnosis and/or treatment from our institutions between 1998 and 2014. We divided the patients in three subgroups: adolescents (15-25 years), young adults (26-39 years) and adults (more than 39 years).  Among the three groups there was statistically significant difference in gender, primary site, Breslow thickness, ulceration, pTNM stage and tumoral subtype, disease-specific overall survival and disease-free survival.